Renewable Energy Groups Unite

A coalition of renewable energy groups have banded together to press the government to pass a clean energy standard.

The Coalition for Clean and Renewable Energy is a diverse group that includes trade and advocacy groups such as the Biomass Power Association, American Wind Energy Association, Energy Recovery Council and businesses including Iberdrola Renewables, and Covanta Energy.

The coalition was organized to amplify President Obama’s goal for 80 percent of America’s energy to be produced from clean sources by 2035, which he announced in his 2011 State of the Union address.

The group is opposed to what they call the status quo on energy where the U.S. increases its dependence on imported energy, continues to lose clean energy jobs and investors and lags behind other nations in the clean energy race.

The following are the principles that the coalition is advancing:

1. Growing Clean Energy beyond Business-As-Usual. We applaud the efforts that have been made to advance a Clean Energy Standard and urge that any final policy establish both a strong, long-term goal and aggressive near-term targets to accelerate deployment of clean, renewable energy beyond business as usual, while recognizing the role of existing clean and renewable energy technologies.

2. Unleashing American Potential. We support a policy that unleashes the full innovation potential of the U.S. clean and renewable energy marketplace, attracts investment in U.S. manufacturing, and creates American jobs across the supply chain and in every region of the country.

3. Putting the U.S. in the Lead. We support a policy that ensures the United States leads the global clean and renewable energy economy in the near and long term.

4. The Centerpiece of U.S. Energy Policy. We believe that capturing the investment, innovation and job-creation potential of clean and renewable energy requires a spectrum of market activating policies, of which a Clean Energy Standard must be the center for the 112th Congress.

5. Encourage Energy and Regional Diversity. We support a policy that results in the deployment of a diverse spectrum of clean and renewable energy technologies to protect consumers from both price and resource variability. Such a policy must include all technologies represented in the Coalition for Clean and Renewable Energy and also allow each region of the country to take advantage of its own eligible resources.

6. No Preemption of States. We support a policy that does not preempt the right of individual states to pursue stronger clean and renewable energy standards, and that integrates efficiently with existing renewable energy credit trading markets.